


Alpha Protector

by LyzDrake



Category: Bleach, The Sentinel
Genre: F/M, Guide Rukia, Muramasa - Freeform, Sentinel Ichigo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyzDrake/pseuds/LyzDrake
Summary: Something about the way Soul Society functioned meant that Sentinels and Guides were rare and therefore unknown. When Rukia, an unknown guide, is inured by a hollow, and the same hollow threatens his family, Ichigo Kurosaki, Alpha Ascendant takes notice, and soon things are spiraling beyond control.This is mostly a proof of concept/test, as, barring any complications, I will be working on this for Rough Trade.





	Alpha Protector

Ichigo had come online early in life. He had seen a girl about to jump in the river, and his instincts had sent him after her. He'd come online to the smell of his mother's blood, and the weight of her body as she sheltered him from what he later found to be a Hollow. When they found him, he was zoned trying to find her heartbeat, and it took three days for him to recover enough for his sisters to visit. His father had barely left his side. 

They'd tried to keep it from him at first, but he was an Alpha Ascendant, level 6. When he bonded, he would be expected to form a pride, and possibly lead all the Sentinels in Japan, so he was good at finding out secrets. His mother was something called a Quincy and her powers had failed her, leading to her death at the hands of a Hollow. 

Eventually, his father explained the whole story. "I wasn't born a living soul," Isshin said finally. "I was born to the Shiba clan in Soul Society. It's where spirits go when they die and is part of the cycle of reincarnation. Sentinels and Guides tend to reincarnate immediately, and very few are born, so they're an unknown. The Shiba clan tends to be the exception to that rule. I was born a Guide, and almost all my family were Sentinels or Guides, but we kept it quiet. We weren't sure exactly what it was. There was no one to explain it." He went on to explain about Shinigami and Hollows, and how the system worked, before getting down to the point. "I was in the fourth division as a healer, a perfect job for my talents, before I was promoted to Captain of the tenth squad. As Captain, I came here to battle an exceedingly strong Hollow, and your mother saved me. She was a Quincy, and unlike Shinigami, Quincy tend to have the S/G gene. I didn't realize, but we partially bonded that day. When I returned, I kept feeling like something was wrong. Finally, I returned to the Living World without permission and found your mother Hollowfying. Basically, she was poisoned by the reiatsu of the Hollow we'd killed. I gave up my powers to save her, and we fully bonded. Now that she's gone, my powers will return slowly."

Eventually, Ichigo had the whole thing out of his father, and the scope of his powers, including the possibility of an inner hollow from the Hollow his mother had absorbed, and the duality of Shinigami and Quincy powers. That was when his father introduced him to Urahara, who soon became something of a weird uncle. 

* * *

Ichigo entered the candy shop, something seeming strange to him. He soon realized it was Spiritual Power, reiatsu. A man in old-fashioned clothes, geta, and a striped hat came out to meet him. "Hello, Ichigo. I'm your godfather, Urahara Kisuke. Your father said you're here about your powers?"

Isshin nodded. "He came online, so he needs to be able to control all his power or he could get himself in trouble."

"Thankfully, we have some time. I'm in no rush to try the Shattered Shaft. Alright then. There are four main parts to Shinigami power, and a few more to Vizard power, which is what merging with the hollow granted you if it's in there: Zanjutsu, Kido, Hakuda, and Hoho. Your father is excellent at Hakuda, and Healing Kido. He'll teach you those. Yoruichi is out right now, but she's an expert at Hoho, and she'll refine your Hakuda, give you some variation. Tessai, who's in the back, is an expert on Kido. He'll teach you everything you need to know. Finally, I'll teach you Zanutsu, from contacting your blade to wielding it."

Ichigo bowed. "Thank you for teaching me Urahara-san, please take care of me."

Urahara laughed. "You can call me Kisuke-oji, or Ojisan." He led Ichigo to the back, where Tessai, a large, stoic man taught him how to draw out his power and use it. Then it was time for his lessons with Kisuke. 

"You'll lean Jinzen, to locate your inner world, and meet its occupants. Some of them may try and trick you. Your Zanpakto will always be trustworthy, but the Hollow may try to devour you, and the Quincy may try to trick you."

* * *

Muramasa was what finally broke the stalemate over Ichigo's powers. He'd met the occupants of his inner world in only a few short months, the problem was the balance. The Quincy portion of his powers had chosen to defy the original and stay, but he disliked the rest and had tried to kill Ichigo's Zanpakto. In order to survive, Zangetsu had been forced to hollowfy, merging with the hollow. Ichigo was stuck. He could only call part of his power because they were uneven. His Quincy powers needed to become part Shinigami and have a strong tether to his soul, to survive cutting the final tethers to Ywach. As he was predominantly a Shinigami soul, he had to access even his unique powers as a Shinigami, and he couldn't. That's when Muramasa showed up. He had been drawn to Ichigo's spiritual power, having given up on ever finding his master, Koga. As he told 13-year old Ichigo his story, Ichigo forced Muramasa to realize Koga was abusive, and a poor master, undeserving of Muramasa's loyalty. Feeling the need to reciprocate, he told Muramasa his own story. 

Muramasa had been quiet for a moment before he spoke quietly. "Your Quincy powers sound quite a bit like me before Koga betrayed me. I have no wish to continue on any longer, but it would be nice to do something good with myself before I go. I will tether myself to you as a Zanpakto and merge with your Quincy powers. He will be the dominant personality, as I wish to rest, and I will grant you my power." WIthout allowing Ichigo to respond, Muramasa did just that. When Ichigo performed jinzen, he came face to face with only two spirits in his inner world. Both were tethered equally to him. He felt the firm weight of two swords in his hands, and he smiled. 

"We've decided, Ichigo." Said his inverted reflection. "The Quincy and Muramasa have given up their names, and I've shared mine. We will both be Zangetsu, although you may come up with individual nicknames for us when you're speaking to us."

Ichigo grinned. "How about Shiro and Ossan. You are my inverted self, my white self, and he is the combined form of two old men."

'Ossan' smiled. "I am content." His appearance hadn't changed much. His hair was lighter, and his coat trimmed purple instead of white. 

* * *

From that point, Ichigo made large strides in grasping his spiritual powers. His uncle, Ryuuken, taught him to use his Quincy powers alongside his cousin Uryu, although he was not very skilled with all of them. His Blut was perfect, everything else was hit or miss. It had taken his father a lot of sweet talking to convince the rare mundane Quincy, rather than an S/G, to put his efforts towards protecting the tribe and passing those skills on to others. 

He wasn't allowed to try for Bankai until he was sixteen, barring an emergency, according to his father, and although his upper-level Kido and mid-level Kido were excellent, he struggled with the low-level Kido. His Hoho was excellent, however, as was his Hakuda, and his Zanjutsu was improving as he aged and gained some mass. His healing Kido went exceeding well, and he was taking some of the certifications in first aid in the Living world already. Unfortunately, although he could reign in a lot of his reiatsu, quite a bit spilled out for about three hundred meters in every direction around him. 

 

 


End file.
